Canadian companies struggle with ROI more than global companies
meanwhile 70 percent Percentage of Canadian organizations say AI is delivering meaningful business value; 3 percent Achieving measurable returns on your AI investments. The main barrier identified by respondents is the workforce skills gap. Worldwide, 8 percent of respondents were able to benefit from their AI investments.
Another hurdle facing business leaders is the uneven adoption of agent AI in the workplace. In Canada, 31 percent of employees are resistant to technology compared to 16 percent worldwide. More than half (51 percent) stated that trust and ethical concerns are the cause of employee hesitation, 40 percent Some argue that concerns about job security and a lack of confidence in AI’s skills and abilities are to blame.
To close this gap, Carley says companies need to not only train their employees to work with AI agents, but also think through how human-AI collaboration can add value to their organizations.
“As organizations look to upskill their workforce, they need a clear picture of how their employees can use AI agents in ways that have a meaningful impact on the business,” says Curley. “Skilled employees can build agents to automate tasks and get work done faster, but if agents aren’t being used to produce results, companies won’t get the benefits they expect.”
To prepare employees for new ways of working, leading organizations are establishing clear protocols for how and when to use AI agents. Other key actions include creating a sandbox environment where employees can practice working with tools and creating role-specific guidelines for effective collaboration and delegation.
“The issue isn’t the technology; it’s whether employees are equipped and confident to use it effectively. If people don’t understand how to work with these tools, or don’t trust them, adoption will stall and return on investment will suffer,” Curley says. “Agentic AI is changing the way we work. In this new environment, every employee is a manager, responsible for overseeing and delegating work to agents. Organizations that are ahead of the curve are investing as much in developing employee management capabilities as they are in AI literacy skills. Everyone now needs to know how to assign work, assess quality, and provide effective feedback, because that’s what ultimately creates value.”
